SunKing

Excellent!! Those who wish to frequent non-smoking establishments have some options. That's a good thing. Following that logic, IMHO, it should be left as just such a choice - as opposed to MANDATING that ALL bars be non-smoking.

I STRONGLY disagree with with the proposed ban (and yet I'm a non-smoker). Let me ask this, are there any restrictions against opening a non-smoking bar? I'm not aware of any - yet - of the hundreds of bars and clubs open in this city - how many are 'non-smoking'? ...are there any...maybe just one? Seems to me if having a non-smoking bar was such a great and desirable thing - someone would have jumped on the chance to open one. ...and it seems like if so many people wanted a smoke-free bar - then the smoke free bars would be making lots of money. ...and encouraging more smoke free bars. But no, that's not the way it is. Whatever happened to "Land of the FREE and home of the brave"? ..now, it's more like "Land of the regulated and home of political correctness".

Excellent!!! ...I know I'll check it out.

Great pics - THANKS!

I found a thread on the 'Urban Explorer' forum where someone made it into the building recently, and took a bunch of pictures: http://www.uer.ca/forum_showthread.asp?fid...=1&pp#post0 .....Interesting stuff.

Great pics - THANKS! It looks like they are trying to save some of the larger trees. I'm glad to see that. Overall, I think this is a great addition to downtown - especially with the Park Tower going in. Lots of great things happening in downtown now.

Piffle!! I'm another native Houstonian (3rd generation), and I love hearing everyone's stories about historic Houston. My grandfather rode out the great storm of 1900 in the Boliver lighthouse, and my dad was born here in 1933. I came into the world in '64 and grew up in the 'burbs. Because of that, I didn't really have a close attachment to downtown until I started working there after college ('88). Since then my interest in Houston history has grown, and I've really - REALLY - enjoyed these forums. Thanks to all who contribute!! (speaking of contributing, I had planned to take some pics of downtown today - but the weather is terrible...) ...and to keep on topic - the only (interesting) past shopping places I remember from my youth was a cool record shop in Popolo Village (corner of Stuebner Airline/1960). ..oh, and the Dairy Queen not far from our house...

Wow! That many windows were blown out when Alicia hit? ...glad I wasn't downtown when that happened. I remember Alicia ...messed up prom a bit. I'm also fortunate to have worked in the Wells Fargo Plaza for a few years ('94-'96). That building really is as beautiful inside as it is outside. Hehehe, speaking of which - those marble floors are REALLY smooth on rollerblades. Yeah, one Thursday after a few too many at Party on the Plaza, me and a few of my friends used my access card and went rollerblading around the bank - through and around the lobby, down the elevators into the garage, and then back up and out. We left without getting caught, but the next day at work I had a visit from security. I blamed it on too much beer and we laughed it off...after I promised never to do it again.

Oh yes, Pappasito's and Lupe Tortilla are also both very good (yet a wee bit expensive IMHO). ...and in an effort to get slightly back on topic - have you tried Cyclone Anaya's? They used to have a location on Durham & Washington that closed down many years ago. They have since opened up two new locations - one downtown (close to BW3) and another on Shepherd next to Jax. MMMM, mmmm, good!

You guys don't like Chuy's?? Well, to each his own I suppose. For me, Chuy's is one of my favorite Tex-Mex places. Now, before you call me a Yankee or acuse me of not knowing my Tex-Mex - let me say I'm a 3rd generation Houstonian who's been eatin' Tex-Mex since I was a kid. Heck, I was eatin' fajita's before most people had ever heard of 'em (late 70's early 80's). IMHO, Chuy's has some of the best beef fajita's around. ..and if I'm not getting the fajita's I'm getting the #2 combo - enchalada and Chili Rellino - YUMMM!! Oh, and if you haven't tried the creamy jalapeno salsa you are really missing out.